Man who prompted Florida Blue Alert shot, killed by homeowner during break-in

PERRY, Fla. – The man who prompted a Florida Blue Alert was shot and killed by a homeowner during a break-in early Wednesday, according to officials.

A Blue Alert was issued by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for Gregory Ryan Miedema in connection with a shooting that injured a Florida deputy late Tuesday. The FDLE canceled the Blue Alert just after 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Officials identified the Taylor County deputy as Troy Anderson.

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Video from the shooting scene showed authorities blocking a highway as they searched for Miedema when he was last seen in Perry, Florida.

Anderson was airlifted to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, where he underwent reconstructive surgery, according to the FDLE and Taylor County Sheriff Wayne Padgett.

“Our officer is in the hospital right now, he’s fixing to go under reconstructive surgery for his face and where the bullet entered, he’s stable right now, everything seems to be going in a good direction unless something turns around,” Padgett said during a news conference Wednesday. “Troy is a valued employee of Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, he is loved by his fellow officers, he is loved by the community, he’s done a very good job for TCSO.”

Dixie County Sheriff Darby Butler said his deputies responded to the shooting of a home intruder around 7 a.m. Wednesday at an undisclosed address in a northern part of the county.

“Upon arrival, the deputy made contact with the homeowner, who stated he exchanged gunfire with an armed suspect after the suspect entered his home at that time. The suspect was deceased when the deputy arrived at the scene,” Butler said.

Several firearms were found placed around the area of the suspect’s vehicle, and the homeowner who engaged the suspect was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries from the altercation, Butler said.

At the conference, FDLE Supervisor Mark Perez linked the two events.

“The preliminary determination is that this incident that occurred last evening with Deputy Anderson, as well as the incident that occurred in Dixie County at the private residence, was committed by the same individual that was identified in the Blue Alert that went out,” Perez said.